ozzywizard Ozzywizard, are you sure about that standing charge info?, I took this info from The Scottish Parliament information centre. Domestic supply Domestic electricity supply is the responsibility of the local electricity distribution company that maintains the cables and wires supplying electricity to a home (i.e.ScottishPower or Scottish Hydro). If power is lost for 18 hours, a compensation claim can be made. ScottishPower have recently published press adverts highlighting this. Taken from SSE Power Distribution Scottish Hydro-Electric Power Distribution Ltd 6. The standing charge for use of system noted in paragraph 5 above may include, (dependant on tariff), an amount to reflect the cost of the service cable to the premises and its termination, a contribution to the cost of the local network except as recovered within the connection charge, the costs of data processing, maintaining customer records, the costs of the registration service in accordance with the Master Registration Agreement and the cost of use of system billing and collection. So what does all this mean?, do I have a claim or not?. Sure is interesting stuff once you get digging though. Regards

Thanks, yes the food was in the freezer & fridge, but the mess on the floor was well lets say not the best home coming. Regards & Thanks

Has anyone ever found out what the Standing Charge is for when you pay your gas & electric?. Also who is responsible for the cable that brings electric or gas from the street to your meter?. The reason being. I rend a newish house (4 year old) when we returned from holiday our freezer had defrosted, the electric cable from the street to the meter had failed, of course we were away so could not know this, we suspect it was off about 48 hours in total. The fault was fixed within 4 hours but who is to blame?, why should I have to pay the first £250 of this claim & higher insurance when the fault is no mine. Thanks Acetip

Hi Surfer01, If any supplier can supply any house any where in the UK then why do they charge for transporting it?, yes this is one of the reasons for hiking prices up, or so this is what they say. As for South Africa it has problems keeping the lights on in some places, power cuts often, so the papers say. Regards Acetip News | Africa - Reuters.com

Yes Standing charges are one of the reasons for the diff in price on the whole BUT WHAT IS YOUR "Standard Energy" price per unit gas & electric. If you use lets say use 10KW per month the unit cost per KW is on your bill as it is on every bill this is the true cost, the others are just to throw you off the trail. My Supplier is Scottish Hydro Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each LOOK ON YOUR BILLS for this info So what is every one's?, we can then see how much it costs. I understand all the reasons for the diff in price I've herd them all but if your supplier buys a unit at 5.5p per unit but then sells it for 9.05p per unit then that is profit. Regards Acetip

So what we are saying then is that Prices are rigged, so it will be cheaper to get your energy from your local supplier. Then why are we pointed to the likes of EDF by Uswitch who are not based in the UK along with others, remember Uswitch are free to you & me but get paid by the suppliers to get you to move. So why not have a go at naming & shaming these energy suppliers, they are just taking the p out of mister avarage to pay the shareholders. See the link. Best Regards Acetip BBC NEWS | Business | Energy price rises 'unjustified'

Hi ozzywizard, Yes you are right there are lots of reasons to why things are not the same for everyone but the one thing that is the same is the cost of gas or electricity. Many of the suppliers do not generate electricity, neither do any of the gas suppliers, it's natural gas & yes it was said in the 60's it would mean cheap fuel for good old UK limited. Ya ya ha ha. What I am saying is that gas is natural but of course these suppliers have to buy it from whoever, once it is paid for it's sent down the same pipe mixed with all the other suppliers so why does the cost change from one to another. Answer, greed, bad managment & lots of others as well. Ok so what is this STANDARD RATE?, I can't find anything relating to the cost per unit. I know things change if you pay by DD or if you pay by cheque or even groats or stones, we can deal with this later. So lets build up a list yes a list giving just the STANDARD UNIT COST for Electricity & Gas no matter who supplies it. From this we can now see the true costs & who gives the best deal without the likes of Uswitch or whoever switches. Best regards Acetip My Supplier is Scottish Hydro Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each Only use the “Standard Energy” reading

Some of the answers may well be on this website, it's packed with info but you need lots of time to read through. Regards Acetip Quarterly Energy Prices - BERR

I understand many are owned outside the UK but do they charge the same price in the likes of France, Germany or Poland, I think not, in France they are capped & I can't see the Poles paying the same as us UK mugs. Why can we not buy from France direct? we sell energy to Europe Any ideas?. Acetip

Can anyone put me right?. I live, work, pay tax in the UK, I use energy lake everyone in the European Union. SO WHY CAN I NOT BUY ENERGY FROM THE EU?. This may sound odd but just think, we supply energy to the European Union via the National Grid yes it still is there doing the same job it did prior to being privatised. If I live in Europe it is possible to buy from any country other than your own or so I think, but if you live in Rip off UK you have to use a UK company, is that true or not?. Anyone know the facts or are we all doomed to being ripped off for ever?. Acetip

Thats not the idea, we can all do that but do you know how much each one charges PER STANDARD UNIT not how much they say you "Could" save. Its a good site but I am attempting to get the TRUE cost per unit from all not just what they think is the best one. So how much is NPower or Powergen or Brit Gas or Scottish Electricity & so on. Build up a table so we can all relate the cost per unit. How much is your unit cost???. Acetip

Hi everyone, Ok 2008 & here we go again, “Sorry to our customers but it’s out of our control we have to raise prices to ensure the supply” Joke, do we really believe this?, are you convinced it’s needed?, who can afford this never ending greed?, they are not protecting supply just shareholders & we are paying for this & I can also say some will pay the ultimate price death due to the cold. Does anyone know how we can build up a tariff chart that says the actual price per unit of gas or electricity so we can see who is the cheapest without switching or using the likes of Uswitch. So let’s name & shame these suppliers. Why not post your suppliers tariffs here. My Supplier is Scottish Hydro Gas tariff - Standard energy 2.150p each Electricity tariff - Standard energy 9.05p each Only use the “Standard Energy” reading Regards & happy new year Acetip

Hi All, Update & thank you all for your imput. Remember banks do have to listen & you must never let them off the hook once you have a nibble. Bank payed back they allegedly stole they admitted to a "Miss-calculation" I should co-coanyway they payed £50 they took + £100 compensation + £100 to be paid to the PDSA so after all the hassle was it worth it??. Would you have stuck out for more????. Regards ACETIP

I do understand things like your loss do take place & quite often but my loss was not the same. This money was taken out of our account in CASH from the bank branch not by any card & to do this over the counter it needs to be signed for. Now neither my wife or myself signed for the cash but the manager did, 2 days later. What I am saying is that i think this is theft & I am still pondering what to do next. I have not signed the disclaimer from the bank & therefore I have not had our cash back or any compensation. Best Regards acetip

Sorry not allowed to give out the name yet, but I suspect you know the name of this ex building society. Acetip